The center will showcase the history, present and future of civil and human rights issues across the globe.

“We trace our roots in Atlanta back 150 years,” said Lizanne Thomas, Jones Day’s partner in charge, at the luncheon following the ground-breaking. “This is an opportunity for us to deepen our commitment here at home.”

Thomas said Jones Day Foundation and partners made the gift as a way to become the inaugural member of the Justice Society, a group of legal professionals who support the center.

The ground-breaking ceremony also provided a rare opportunity for Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin to share the same stage.

Reed started his comments by “acknowledging the extraordinary work of my predecessor — Mayor Shirley Franklin.”

“The city of Atlanta won the King papers and put us on the path of what we are celebrating right here, right now,” Reed said. “It is going to be a building and institution that is alive every single day.”

At the luncheon, Franklin insisted “this is not one person’s vision or one person’s project.” She added, “this is a very special day for Atlanta and for the world,” because the center will become “a place to tell its story of peace and harmony.”

Franklin, who chairs the board of the center, was recognized in two ways.

An anonymous donor made a donation of an undisclosed amount to create an annual Shirley Franklin Day at the center. The endowment includes free admission and special programming on or around the former mayor’s birthday, which is May 10.

The center also gave its two inaugural “Bridge Builder” awards — one to Franklin and the other to Doug Shipman, the president and CEO of the organization.

Center officials also reported Wednesday women have emerged as a key constituency of supporters of the center.

In 2010, the Women’s Solidarity Society established the Women’s Giving Circle to raise money for the center. Under the leadership of Latonda Henderson, the society has raised $600,000.

In all, the center has raised $70 million for the project — $65 million for construction and $5 million for an endowment. Atlanta provided $40 million in bonds from the area’s tax allocation district.

Originally, the center was envisioned as a $125 million project, but fundraising proved to be more difficult than expected during the economic recession.

But A.J. Robinson, president of Central Atlanta Progress, which has been championing the effort to build the center, said the work had only just begun.

“Phases Two and Three hopefully coming very soon will require the same kind of generosity to help complete the entire vision of the Center,” Robinson said. “The journey has been long, but it’s not over yet.”